Ever
since Sam Harris first got our attention with The End of Faith,
a parade of atheist-themed books has come out. Thanks to people like
Richard Dawkins, Victor Stenger, Taner Edis and others the scientific
case for the implausibility of religious dogmas has been largely
made. Christopher Hitchens has made the politico-sociological case
against the desirability of religion, and Daniel Dennett has gotten
us to question religion and religious psychology. But until recently,
a few topics have been missing from our canon. Enter Eric Maisel and
his Atheist's Way.Way presupposes atheism.
Maisel spends no time making a case for godlessness, a position he
sees as too evident (perhaps because the case has been made
elsewhere) to address in this slim volume. He has other, bigger fish
to fry, anyway, rather than rehashing the same old arguments against
cogent evidence for theism.

Maisel sets out to answer the question, "How
then should we live?" and he largely succeeds in providing
challenging answers that provide philosophical courage and direction
without succumbing to unrealistic, wishy-washy, banal "inspiration."

This
is the path of existentialism that looks reality in the eye
unflinchingly and determines to create in our meaningless universe a
source of boundless meaning from within. We nominate ourselves, we
invest meaning, and we take off on a hero's quest. Some statements
within the book reminded me of my favorite line from the TV series,
Angel, in which the title character says, "In the greater
scheme or the big picture, nothing we do matters. There's no grand
plan, no big win....If there is no great glorious end to all this, if
nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do. 'cause
that's all there is....All I wanna do is help. I wanna help because I
don't think people should suffer as they do. Because, if there is no
bigger meaning, then the smallest act of kindness is the greatest
thing in the world."

Maisel
might take exception to some parts of what Angel said. It is perhaps
a little facile. But as a statement of principle for the character,
it rather nicely reflects the attitude of Atheist's Way. In
one sitting, I read it cover to cover. It took a couple of chapters
to get into the book, but once I was hooked, I was hooked like a
hungry trout.

Too
few atheist writers, even the best ones, seem to know how to address
the problem of meaning - not for themselves, but for others. It is
fine for the relatively well-off and well-known to make brash
proclamations about a godless universe without ultimate purpose, but
where does that leave the overweight stock boy in Kansas who wants to
be part of an epic struggle between opposing forces to give his life
some meaning? I found Way has the answer: Anyone can be
involved in an epic, heroic struggle against the forces,
external and internal, that would seek to drain life of meaning. It
truly is a heroic undertaking, and has the added virtue of being true
in a way that demons, angels, and apocalypses never can be.

This
is a book to challenge and improve an atheist's life, and to show the
religious skeptic afraid of embracing atheism a clear-eyed view of
what a life free of superstition can be. It is simply written,
direct, accessible, and potentially life-changing. There's no excuse
not to read this book, and I urge all atheists to do so. Frankly, we
need a better class of non-believer, and adherence to the "Way"
laid out in this book can help produce that.

The
most loathsome movie character I know is Cypher from "The
Matrix." Knowing what was real, he chose to re-enter the
imaginary world of the matrix to experience fantasy comforts and
pleasures rather than bravely facing a gray, bleak reality in which
painful struggle could make him an actual hero. This choice is
somewhat analogous to what Maisel lays out for the reader. As a life
coach, he provides the insight, the motivation, and the methodology
to make selecting the hero's journey seem not only achievable, but
noble in a way that will satisfy the self.

The
subtitle of this book is How an Evangelical PreacherBecame
One of America’s Leading Atheists, and thus Dan Barker
gives his background from when he was born again to when he became a
preacher at age 15. Dan had a ‘call to the ministry’ in
1964. In 1984 Dan sent a letter to 50 colleagues, friends, and
family announcing that he was “somewhere between the agnostic
and the atheist.” This bold and brave act defined his new life
course.

Dan
shows that this change was not because he had been insincere in his
religious convictions, or that he lacked faith. He describes how he
felt when he believed that he received the Holy Spirit, and was born
again. His commitment was deep and devoted. In his religious
career, he describes the call into the ministry and his faith in
being a witness for god. The reward was not financial, but it was
the deeply personal experience of bringing others to Christ. Once
again, he speaks with authority about this experience.

As
he relates in his book, there were people who were very skeptical of
his loss of faith. Those he left behind in religion could only see
this through their own dark prism using phrases like:

“You
dislike authority.”

“You
want to be different and stir up trouble.”

“You
are an angry person.”

“You
are arrogant.”

Dan’s journey away from faith is familiar. He was a person who
asked questions, had a thirst for knowledge, and looked beyond
religious materials. First, he confronted the issue of inerrancy.
Liberal theologians, such as Tillich and Bultmann, caused him to
think. Thus the questions raised weakened his faith but strengthened
his intellectual curiosity. He said, “Faith and reason began a
war within me.” It was reason that won the war, but one gets
the impression that this was not easy or done without emotional pain
or loss.

Part
two of Barker’s book is a compendium of reasons for this loss
of faith and his endorsement of reason. It is personal, but many
readers will identify with the questions he raises and the answers he
found. Whether he is refuting the proofs of god’s existence or
clashing with the most recent propositions for proving god’s
existence, Dan relates it as a personal experience that could and
does happen to many atheists.

Part
three is a handbook for debating Christians. Barker argues the issue
of morality as it is portrayed in the bible. What is the test for a
god who is claimed to be the source of morality for billions? We
have all probably read the story of Sodom where Abraham raises the
question, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
(Gen. 18:25) God did the right thing in that situation, if you
believe the slaughter of hundreds of children and babies count among
the unrighteous.

The
fact is that the bible teaches us from authority, not from reason.
It nowhere states that ‘every human being possesses an inherent
right to be treated with respect’. It presents religion’s
role models, especially Yahweh, Elohim, and Jesus, who often ignore
their own teachings and are ruthless. As the Proverb says, “The
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Prov. 1:7) Time
and again fear is the motivation behind obedience to the law and not
understanding. Dan examines the recording of the Ten Commandments
(Ex. 20: 7-17, Ex. 34: 11-26, Deut. 4:13), the result is we should be
asking how one could believe these contradictions.

Part
three continues by listing contradictions and discrepancies in the
bible. The question is – how many do you think qualifies the
bible for rejection as being the word of god – not even the
inerrant word of god? The errors he lists in the recording of
numbers could happen over time, but the contradictions on teachings
and beliefs are numerous and far less excusable.

The
two chapters on the existence of Jesus should have you packing your
bags to leave on the free thought train. The historical challenges
to the real Jesus have been examined in greater detail, but Dan gives
an overview of the material that pointedly argues the case against a
real Jesus.

Part
four summaries his continued pursuit of atheism, and the issues it
raises in our nation. Dan and the Freedom From Religion Foundation
have challenged the relationship between church and state. The
concluding chapters return to a more personal statement. Dan’s
message is clear and helpful to those seeking reason over faith. -Grant Steves

Since
Israel and the religions that formed there receive so much attention
worldwide, it is odd to remember that it is one of the world's
countries that we know least about historically. Not only has
archaeological research been difficult to perform there until the
later 20th century, but the history that we do know has
been muddied by a literal reading of the Bible.

About a third of Americans believe in a literal interpretation of the
Bible, and many more believe that some variation of the scriptures is
true. Did the Exodus actually occur? Is it an exaggeration of an
actual event? Were David and Solomon historical figures? As atheists,
most of us are biblical minimalists, but there has always been very
little evidence on which to build any sort of a strong case. Slowly,
however, the archaeological field work taking place in Israel has
been yielding results and we are now able to reconstruct a ‘new'
history of ancient Israel. The truth has finally emerged from the
sand and rubble.

Israel Finkelstein is the director of Tel Aviv University's
excavations at Megiddo while Neil Asher Silberman is a contributing
editor of Archeology Magazine. In the introduction, the
authors quote Roland de Vaux, who stated, "If the historical
faith of Israel is not founded in history, such faith is erroneous."
This is very true. And since the books of the Hebrew Bible are the
foundation of the entire Judeo-Christian canon, the deeds and
philosophies of all later prophets, including Jesus, have had the rug
pulled out from underneath them.

The book is divided into three sections: Part one challenges the
traditional history of the patriarchs and the conquest of Canaan.
Part two explores the rise and fall of the Northern kingdom of
Israel, and part three looks at the southern land of Judah and the
composition of the Bible. There's no need to be a Biblical expert to
read the book; the Old Testament stories are given a brief and
readable synopsis before the evidence is examined and the alternative
hypothesis given.

For all the textual critics and debaters out there, this book
gives ample ammunition. The once thought ‘glorious'
reigns of David and Solomon have been shown to be little more than
chiefdoms while Deuteronomy is shown to be nothing more than
propaganda by King Josiah in order to create national identity for
Judah in the 7th century BCE. Finkelstein's archaeological
work is the final nail in the coffin of any form of Biblical
literalism. It's enough to actually make reading the Bible enjoyable. -Vic Tanner

Why
be even remotely concerned or interested in the debate over the
inerrancy of the Bible? Because approximately forty million or more
people in this country do believe the inerrancy of the Bible and
about two hundred million more people believe the Bible to be the
Word of God. Atheists may have written the Bible off as fiction, but
others have not. Our continued interest in the debate over the
Bible, Koran, and other religious books is about being informed by
the most recent and accurate evidence on these issues.

Misquoting Jesusis a
more recent effort to examine the text of the New Testament. In a
more complex and scholarly work in, The Orthodox Corruption of
Scripture (1993), Dr. Ehrman set down his argument about the New
Testament text with more complete footnotes and comments. This gives
a reader a choice in matters of complexity of materials.

Misquoting Jesus has a
popular style of writing, and as a result it became a best seller.
It is easy to see why this became a best seller. It is easy to see
why this became a best seller from the introduction to the concluding
depth. Dr. Ehrman's introduction describes his journey of
faith in scripture to a skeptic of the scripture and an agnostic.